Divide and conquer: how to make a space of your own
After years of moving around and living in rentals, I finally moved back into my own home. This is huge! A moment I’ve been dreaming of! I can now literally do anything I like to this house! My husband says ‘Whoa’, as he is overwhelmed by my growing list of things to do. A good dose of reality kicks in and I find myself prioritising my to-do-list.
As I’m unpacking and trying to organise my new home, I’m faced with a problem.
Where can I have my workspace?
This is a high priority! You can’t work effectively if you don’t have an appropriate place to work. With COVID-19 this year, anyone who has suddenly found themselves working from home would understand this.
My new workspace needs to include room for quilting (cutting, ironing and sewing), working on my laptop, as well as providing storage for all my fabric, books etc.
My first consideration was creating a Backyard Studio, a whole separate room purpose built and located in the backyard. With plenty of room in my backyard it seemed like a great solution.
Garden Studios are quite popular at the moment with a number of options available from different manufacturers.
But then I started looking at the cost, the reality is this option is pricey when you start looking at the numbers.
With plenty of space in my home, I decided to take another look at the rooms that could potentially be turned into a workspace. To be honest, I was stuck and couldn’t find a solution that seemed to work for me and my family.
Finally, I decided to consult an interior designer to see if there was something they could suggest. I was totally out of ideas and needed a fresh pair of eyes with a new perspective.
I was not disappointed!
When walking around the house with the interior designer, there was finally an ‘aha’ moment. They simply suggested using a section of the large lounge room and creating a wall or partition to make another room.
It seemed so obvious and the space I wanted was right there the whole time!
My next step was giving further consideration to creating a wall or partition for my new room.
I considered a number of options including:
Plasterboard – completely close off my room and put in a door, to create a whole new room in the house. I didn’t want to lose the sense of space the lounge room offered, so decided against this option.
Aluminium Bi Fold Doors – These can be used indoors to completely close off a room or open up a room as required. They look modern and let in light through the glass panels (with frosted glass option too for some privacy). The downside is you need to have a floor track through the entire length of the room and they are expensive.
Verishades – if you’ve lived in rentals you probably have encountered vertical drapes. Verishades are a modern twist, being both a vertical drape and a sheer curtain combined. This option was not ideal for a big opening and I was concerned about it being too much like a curtain dividing the room.
More about Verishades here.
While all these options are great, they were not exactly what I was after.
The winner - Panel Glide Blind!
This blind is affordable, has a ceiling track (no tripping over a floor track) and is stylish (with tons of fabric options available).
What I love about the panel glide blind is I can open up my blind and enjoy being part of the larger space around me. Or I can close it up when finished for the day and want to leave my work behind or hide the mess! You can also open up one end or the other, or both ends as the blind is not fixed at either end.
A panel glide blind is a great alternative to more expensive options such as plasterboard and bi fold doors. These options also require you to make significant changes to a room.
I hope you find some inspiration from my story as you consider these options outlined. With many modern houses having open plan living, this may be a way for you to divide a room and make a separate space for your needs.
Where to buy a Panel Glide Blind?
The panel glide blind was purchased from Accent Blinds* and is ceiling mounted. My handyman husband had to cut out a section of the cornice so the blind rail could be mounted the full length of the room. Please note, I discovered with my blind that if you have a skirting board the blind will not fit flush against the wall.
I ordered one with the aluminium baton to break up the huge expanse of this plain coloured blind and offer some visual interest with the pleats or lines. Another benefit is the batons give some additional weight and stability to the blind.
The colour and blind fabric is called PGLI Havana Translucent Lyric. Translucent is where you want light but don’t want to compromise on privacy.
* If you don’t have an Accent Blinds near you, then look for a similiar product at a local blind shop. I found not all blind shops will offer the aluminium baton as an option.
